Tu Caijing | PPG Posts Zero Growth in 2025—Stock Price Tumbles! Emergency 'Cost Scalpel' Deployed—Can It Turn Things Around This Year?

On January 27, PPG—a global leader in coatings—released its financial results for the fourth quarter and full year of 2025. Adjusted earnings per share (EPS) slightly missed market expectations, causing its after-hours stock price to dip by 2.4%. For the full year 2025, PPG reported net sales of $15.9 billion—flat year-on-year. Organic sales rose 2%, with volume and pricing each contributing one percentage point of growth. On the profitability front, reported EPS stood at $6.92, while adjusted EPS reached $7.58. Net income from continuing operations climbed 17% year-on-year to $1.57 billion; segment profit margin held steady at 17%, and segment EBITDA margin remained at 19%—indicating stable profitability. PPG generated $1.9 billion in operating cash flow for the year—an increase of over $500 million year-on-year. The company returned $1.4 billion to shareholders through $790 million in share repurchases (approximately 3% of outstanding shares) and $630 million in dividends. As of year-end, $2.0 billion remained under its authorized share repurchase program. Cost control efforts delivered significant results: structural cost-reduction initiatives yielded $75 million in benefits for the year—providing solid support for earnings growth. In Q4, PPG’s growth momentum accelerated, posting net sales of $3.9 billion—exceeding analysts’ consensus estimate of $3.77 billion. Organic sales rose 3% year-on-year—the highest quarterly growth rate of the year—driven by higher selling prices and increased volumes across all regions. On profitability, diluted EPS came in at $1.34, and adjusted EPS at $1.51—slightly below the market consensus of $1.58. However, net income surged dramatically—from $2 million ($0.01 per share) a year earlier to $302 million. During the quarter, PPG continued returning value to shareholders, completing approximately $100 million in share repurchases. In Q4, PPG’s three core business segments posted differentiated growth—with standout performance in key areas. The Global Architectural Coatings segment achieved net sales of $951 million—a 8% increase year-on-year. Higher selling prices and favorable currency effects offset the impact of divesting its Russian architectural coatings business. EBITDA rose 14% to $164 million, lifting segment EBITDA margin to 17.2%. Regionally, Latin America and Asia-Pacific posted high single-digit organic sales growth. Retail sales in Mexico remained robust, and project-related sales continued recovering—though declining volumes in Europe partially offset overall growth momentum.

Tu Caijing | Foreign-Owned Coating Companies ‘Stagnated’ in 2024: Sherwin-Williams and Axalta Saw Slight Growth; AkzoNobel Flat; PPG Declined

Ahead of the Spring Festival holiday, numerous publicly listed coating enterprises disclosed their 2024 earnings previews—with several foreign-owned coating companies releasing full-year results even earlier. If one were to summarize the performance of these foreign-owned enterprises in just a few words, it would be: “stagnation—treading water.” So what challenges and shifts did these companies experience over the past year? At the outset of the Year of the Snake, Tu Zhuang Xin Shi Ye (Coating New Horizon) offers an in-depth analysis. Domestic-listed coating companies’ earnings previews have already been comprehensively covered in the article titled “Earnings Previews of Listed Enterprises: Skshu—RMB 420 million; Oriental Yuhong—RMB 147 million; Keshun—Minor Profit; Kailun—Expected Loss.” We will not repeat those details here, but instead focus on interpreting the performance of foreign-owned coating enterprises. On January 30, Sherwin-Williams released its 2024 financial results, reporting consolidated net sales of $23.0985 billion—a mere 0.2% increase year-on-year, effectively negligible. This marginal growth stemmed primarily from low single-digit volume gains and price increases—partially offset by adverse foreign exchange impacts. The company reported EBITDA of $4.4915 billion, up 8.2% year-on-year; net income reached $2.6814 billion, rising 12.25% year-on-year. Heidi G. Petz, Chairman, President, and CEO of Sherwin-Williams, expressed satisfaction with the company’s 2024 performance and projected that consolidated net sales for Q1 2025 would rise or fall by a low single-digit percentage versus Q1 2024, with full-year gross margin expected to expand. By contrast, PPG Industries’ 2024 performance appeared comparatively lackluster. Although the company optimized its portfolio through divestitures—including silica products and its U.S. and Canadian architectural coatings businesses—its financial results showed little improvement. Primarily impacted by declines in automotive OEM, industrial, and architectural coatings businesses across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, PPG reported full-year net sales of $15.845 billion—a 2% decline year-on-year—and a 1% drop in sales volume. Tim Knavish, Chairman and CEO of PPG, stated that despite headwinds, the company enhanced its corporate segment profit margin and generated $1.4 billion in operating cash flow—delivering tangible returns to shareholders. Looking ahead to 2025, PPG expects organic sales growth to remain in the low single-digit range and plans to continue implementing decisive cost-cutting measures.

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